Hitachi Data Systems has launched its Content Archiving Platform (CAP) for archiving both structured and unstructured data on disk. It does not use content-addressed storage (CAS) technology like Centera and Centera's imitators.

HDS says its product answers the needs of records managers which Centera and other products do not. This is partly because they have a software API interface between users and the data they need to retrieve.

Its CAP "supports policy-based (archiving) from many distributed or centralized repositories such as e-mail, file systems, databases, applications and content or document management systems." HDS thinks that restricting a disk-based archive to unstructured and/or reference information does not answer the full archiving need.

With one archive for all this data users can access it through centralized search and authentication, and protect it and apply policy-based retention rules simply. The access protocols include NFS, CIFS, WebDAV and HTTP. Archived data is stored in its original file format. HDS has partnered with several independent software vendors to ensure data can be collected onto its CAP bundle.

The product is built from HDS's WMS100 serial-ATA-based disk product or NSC55 virtualizing disk storage appliance. The archiving software is an OEM'd version of Archivas' archiving product.

In effect HDS, with Archivas' help, is introducing a new all-purpose archive silo which, it claims, is better than having one or more archive silos restricted to particular content types and/or by restricted and bespoke access software. Does it cap Centera? No, and it can't as its years after Centera's introduction. Another competitor is the HP RISS product.

CAP will probably increase sales of HDS arrays and drives as customers add an archiving application to the existing ones based on HDS kit.